The law of jealousy was given to Israel more than three thousand years ago. It reveals a deeply male dominated culture of which women could be treated quite poorly. None the less we see in the gospel when a sinful woman coms to Jesus he treats her with dignity and compassion and she leaves him forgiven and clean.
The early verses of this chapter describe the removal of the unclean from the camp in which the LORD dwells. Then moving on to making restitution for wrong done to another person and therefore breaking faith with the LORD. Our passage begins with a more detailed instance where someone is accused of breaking faith.
11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the people of Israel, If any man’s wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, 13 if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act, 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself,
15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance. (Num 5.11–15)
‘Breaks faith’. The expression denotes breaking the marriage covenant. This is not a minor irritation, but a major break from which the marriage would not recover.
‘Lies with her sexually’, ‘defiled’. The text describes adultery, where another man has had sex with this mans wife. The adulterous sex is described as defiling her. The punishment for adultery is death.
‘Hidden’, ‘Spirit of jealousy’. The husband has no real proof of her adultery, rather I suspect a nagging feeling that she has been unfaithful to him. Since he has no evidence he must bring the case to the LORD.
Not much is said if the husband could simply be over possessive of his wife, insecure or paranoid.
The man ‘brings’ his wife to the priest and things turn very serious.
16 “And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD. 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD and unbind the hair of the woman’s head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.
19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while you were under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.
20 But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, 21 then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) ‘the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. 22 May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’ (Num 5.16–22)
‘Before the LORD’, ‘Water of bitterness’, ‘curse’. The two men stand over the woman and bring her before the LORD. They show her the ‘water of bitterness’ she is to drink which is has dust from the floor of the tabernacle in it which would make it ritually holy. They let her know the water will bring a curse on her if she lies about her faithfulness to her husband and get her to repeat the curse publicly.
The men do what they can to intimidate her.
‘Husbands authority’. The text asserts the husbands authority over the wife and his right to get her checked in this way.
An accused witch going through the judgement trial, where she is dunked in water to prove her guilt of practicing witchcraft.
23 “Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.
25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar. 26 And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.
27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children. (Num 5.23–28)
‘Make the woman drink’, ‘bitter pain’. The words are written down and the material put into the water of bitterness for good measure.
They make the woman drink the liquid.
‘Defiled herself’, ‘broken faith’. The ritual is supposed to cause significant pain and damage to the woman if she has been unfaithful to her husband. However on the other hand if she has been faithful she will be free and be able to have children. Nothing is said about her relationship with her husband.
29 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.” (Num 5.29–31)
‘Man free from iniquity’, ‘woman shall bear her iniquity’. The text from the start assumes the woman’s guilt, giving her no protection. The law does not punish the husband for making a false accusation (cf. Dt 19.16-19; 22.13-19) it only deals punishment to the woman.
Story of Israel
Click to enlarge.
In ancient Israel, legal matters were normally administered by males, and dependent females came under their legal protection and jurisdiction (cf. Num. 30). Men initiated marriage and divorce proceedings (e.g., Deut. 24:1–4) and also charges of sexual misconduct, which could lead to capital punishment (cf. 22:13–21). So women were vulnerable to potentially lethal suspicion of marital infidelity. Moreover, in ancient culture it was a woman’s situation alone that determined whether or not adultery had occurred. If a married man had sexual relations with another woman, it could be a concubine; only if the sex act were with a married woman would it be considered adultery. (Roy Gane, Leviticus, Numbers, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), 525.)
Story of Jesus
In the gospel, a sinful woman came into contact with Jesus. She too was under a mans judgment as she came before the LORD.
37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” (Lk 7.37–39)
Consider after observing the deference towards Jesus how He then judges her.
47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Lk 7.47–50)
His verdict over the woman announced forgiveness rather than punishment. She went home free rather than shamed. The gospel is different from the law of Moses.
16 “And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD. 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD and unbind the hair of the woman’s head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.
